Job summary
Working Full-time: 37.5 hours per week
We have an exciting opportunity to join our trust as the Head of Human Resources.
As an integral member of the People Services senior team, you will be responsible for the provision of high-quality, strategic, and operational workforce support to ensure best practice people management within their areas of responsibility and across the wider People function.
You will define, execute, and monitor strategic and operational People Plans, supporting the delivery of broader Trust objectives e.g. The NHS People Plan, Trust Improvement Plan, People and Workforce Strategies.
As the Head of HR, you will also be the designated lead on various trust-wide workforce initiatives and programmes, with responsibility for development and implementation. You will be the point of escalation for contentious (highly emotive or unusual), highly complex, or high-risk employment matters, working closely with line managers and other stakeholders to ensure the best possible resolution for all parties.
You will be responsible for the inspiration, motivation, and performance management of teams within the remit of the role. You will support wider teams across the Trust to value employees and deliver a positive employee experience as part of the Trust Vision and in line with our trust values
We ask all employees to be flexible in their role, to always ensure we are delivering safe, kind and effective care.
Main duties of the job
o To lead the HR Business Partner Team to deliver professional HR and people leadership to the Divisions, ensuring the highest standards of employee engagement along with optimal workforce performance and effectiveness.o To provide strategic and Trust-wide delivery of the People Strategy within the Divisions through the HR Business Partners and wider People Service teams.o To assist in the workforce elements of the annual planning round, including working with Divisions to develop and deliver their plan, identifying opportunities around workforce supply and transformation.o To develop the HR Business Partner team as the local People & Culture 'relationship manager' for all People & Culture services provided to the Divisions, thereby informing the provision of those services, providing stakeholder feedback, and addressing issues for improvement.o To lead, develop and manage the advisory and operational HR staff, supported by the HR Business Partners to provide an expert, professional and high-quality operational HR service providing advice on a full range of workforce matters.o Develop line managers to be effective people managers, giving them the competence and confidence
About us
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:
o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds.o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.
The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £27.50(standard) or £55.50(enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £27.50(standard) or £55.50(enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to master's level education or equivalent qualification/experience
- Member of CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development)
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Formal training in workshop/meeting facilitation
- Accredited coach
- Trained mediator
- Trained Mentor
Knowledge
Essential
- Significant operational HR experience with exposure to working as a Business Partner; experience of devising and implementing HR plans and strategy
- Sound understanding of HR best practice, NHS terms and conditions of employment (including M&D) and job evaluation / reward management concepts
- Advanced understanding of employment law with ability to analyse, interpret and apply complex concepts
- Demonstrable experience in large scale change management and experience of advising managers on complex change processes including redundancy, reorganisation, and TUPE transfers
- Experience and demonstrable delivery of developing strategic plans and focused solutions to support organisational priorities
- Experience of managing high performing teams (s) whose focus has been on delivering customer focussed HR services with clear performance outcomes
- Experience of preparing and presenting / co presenting cases at internal or external employment tribunals / appeals
Desirable
- Experience of working in other system partner organisations, such as local authority, education, or voluntary sector
- Experience of writing detailed, fully costed business cases
- Experience of collaborating with partner organisations, sharing good practice
- Workforce Planning in a large organisation
- Workforce planning in the NHS
- Experience of working in a large acute NHS Trust
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to master's level education or equivalent qualification/experience
- Member of CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development)
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Formal training in workshop/meeting facilitation
- Accredited coach
- Trained mediator
- Trained Mentor
Knowledge
Essential
- Significant operational HR experience with exposure to working as a Business Partner; experience of devising and implementing HR plans and strategy
- Sound understanding of HR best practice, NHS terms and conditions of employment (including M&D) and job evaluation / reward management concepts
- Advanced understanding of employment law with ability to analyse, interpret and apply complex concepts
- Demonstrable experience in large scale change management and experience of advising managers on complex change processes including redundancy, reorganisation, and TUPE transfers
- Experience and demonstrable delivery of developing strategic plans and focused solutions to support organisational priorities
- Experience of managing high performing teams (s) whose focus has been on delivering customer focussed HR services with clear performance outcomes
- Experience of preparing and presenting / co presenting cases at internal or external employment tribunals / appeals
Desirable
- Experience of working in other system partner organisations, such as local authority, education, or voluntary sector
- Experience of writing detailed, fully costed business cases
- Experience of collaborating with partner organisations, sharing good practice
- Workforce Planning in a large organisation
- Workforce planning in the NHS
- Experience of working in a large acute NHS Trust
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
